


When Forever Comes

by rayisokay



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: 5+1 Things, F/M, One Shot, Short & Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-14
Updated: 2017-03-14
Packaged: 2018-10-05 03:56:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10296908
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rayisokay/pseuds/rayisokay
Summary: Five times Shiro wanted to spend forever with Allura, and the one time he voices it.Or, Shiro's deep in love and can't seem to do anything about it.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I feel like this is a lot of word barf, but I loved the idea. Also, I've been listening to How Long Will I Love You too much.

The first time Shiro thinks about forever with Allura is when she loses her father for good. Her own grief crushes him and yet, the sacrifice she makes shows a strength that he can't help but admire. He’s reminded of the time he learned how stars were made, and in that moment, he can't think of a better comparison. Allura was quickly becoming the brightest thing in his life. Her presence is as steady as the rotation of constellations, and he wants to grasp that forever. 

 

The second time he thinks about forever with Allura, he worries that her forever has already ended. He may have just lost her for a second time and he doesn't want to bear it. He shouts her name to an empty cockpit as if that'd bring her back to consciousness.

Through the comms, or maybe his lion, he senses his fellow paladins’ distress, and he chides himself for being selfish; of course he's not the only one feeling this way. Allura isn't  _ his,  _ or even theirs; she's her own, and she's in pain, and he wishes more than anything in the universe for  _ her  _ — her safety, her smile, her being. He's realized he loves her only a fraction of a second too late. 

 

But it's not too late. The third time Shiro thinks about forever with Allura, Zarkon’s reign has ended. 

The road to that point was too long and painful for him to remember it all, but all he does know is that he wants to go home. He wonders where home even is anymore, and figures it's become all the people around him. 

Rightfully so, everyone's exhausted; it's become a perpetual state of being for them, and they can finally cash in on sleep. Pidge, to no one's surprise, has fallen asleep in a hallway before even reaching her room. But through all the months — years? — Shiro's never seen Allura sleep until now. 

He wanders into the castle's control room and walks in on Allura, snoring at the helm as Coran watches over her with a tired smile. Her hair has grown frizzy, and it falls in her face. He even spots a strand that's made its way into her open mouth. 

_ Oh Lord, I want to marry that woman, _ he thinks, and the thought startles him, as if the idea hadn't been festering away in his mind consistently. Instead of voicing this revelation, he silently walks away, leaving the princess to her well-deserved rest. 

 

The fourth time he thinks of forever with Allura, love is on everyone's mind. Shiro's not the only one who's thought of the “Where to?” and the “What now?” 

Hunk, Lance, and Pidge — Sam and Matt too — all have families to go back to, and people back home to love, but Shiro's parents have been dead for years, and he regretfully figures that his grandmother's already struggling heart wouldn't have lasted this long. Keith's shack is likely long gone by now, and Altea’s been destroyed since long before any of the paladins were born. They all have offers from the others around them; the team's become family with time, after all. But more than anything, Shiro wants to make a life on Earth with Allura. He wonders if it's as outlandish a daydream as it seems, and somehow manages to ask her. 

“Allura, wherever I live when we get to Earth, would you come with me? Coran could come too and um, it could be close to lots of flowers, or something.” Well that's not at all what he planned to say. 

It's also when he learns that living together has a much deeper meaning to Alteans than to humans, and her face tells him he might as well have just asked her to make babies with him on the dining hall table. He also learns, from a decidedly less frazzled Coran, about Altean courtships, marriages, and families. Shiro wonders why he never before thought about it. Of course they'd have different traditions; even each country had different cultures, but an entirely separate planet? Obviously. 

The train wreck isn't a disaster though, when Sam Holt in turn describes things about human culture; though really, it feels like his excuse to gush about Colleen. Shiro doesn't mind as long as his embarrassment can end. 

 

The fifth time Shiro thinks about forever with Allura, it's within reach. In an odd mixture of human and Altean traditions, the two have formed a clumsy courtship. (One of the compromises is calling it a courtship in the first place — Shiro would much quicker just say they're dating). 

Everyone's first dinner on Earth is at the Holts. Hunk teams up with a teary Colleen to make the best food Shiro's had in years. Allura does most of the storytelling, and Shiro has a sneaking suspicion that it's a guise to avoid eating the unfamiliar steak on her plate. 

But then she talks about him. And her stories revolve around him in the same way his world has revolved around her, and he thinks that maybe, just maybe, forever with her could really happen. 

_ Marry me,  _ he thinks, but laughs at her jokes instead. 

 

A year after their arrival on Earth, Shiro's thought about forever with Allura more times than he can count. 

They're all gathered around a table with the McClain family when it happens. The scene is strangely familiar. She's gushing at Lance’s mother's sewing skills with the same shine he fell in love with, and Shiro can't stop himself. 

“Marry me,” he whispers, and the room goes silent. 

“I'm sorry?” She looks over to him with bafflement.

“Allura, will you marry me?” he says louder this time, and he swears he can see Coran holding back tears. 

“Oh! Oh Shiro, yes.” 

Her eyes are wide and her cheeks pinker than usual when he moves to kiss her. The only thing he would change is asking her sooner. 

“Forever yes,” she murmurs into his lips. 

He's probably crying, or laughing, or both, and she's doing the same. Everyone around them is cheering, but all Shiro can hear is the word  _ forever,  _ because his forever with Allura is only just getting started. 

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, this is a one shot, no it won't be continued, and I definitely wrote this in one morning. Please feel free to point out any dumb mistakes that come from me posting something before editing.


End file.
